title: Therapists' anxiety and attitudes toward computerized documentation in the clinical setting.
abstract: Many hospitals are converting to electronic records and allied health professionals are required to modify their traditional documentation practices to accommodate this new technology. This paper discusses a study conducted to determine the computer anxiety and attitudes of physical, occupational, and speech therapists in a large urban teaching hospital before and after the implementation of a computerized documentation system. Fifty-three therapists surveyed with a preinstallation questionnaire reported mild computer anxiety and generally good attitudes about the planned computer system. A greater amount of previous computer use and better self-related computer skills were consistent with less computer anxiety. Seven of the original sample became the first to use the computer system. After their six month trial period, surveys revealed a reduction in computer anxieties. Manual time logs completed before and after the system implementation revealed a significant decrease in total documentation time when using computers.
authors.affiliation: Ohio State University Medical Center, Columbus 43210, USA.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Schumacher
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Brodnik
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sachs
authors.forename: M R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Schiller
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001007:Anxiety / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D001292:Attitude to Computers; D003200:Computer User Training; D004282:Documentation; D005260:Female; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016347:Medical Records Systems, Computerized; D008875:Middle Aged; D009788:Occupational Therapy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009820:Ohio; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013070:Speech Therapy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors